Former Surrey MP Sukh Dhaliwal resigned Friday as a B.C. Liberal candidate in the coming provincial election over revelations he's facing charges under the Income Tax Act.

An emotional Dhaliwal addressed a hastily called news conference at the Grand Taj Banquet Hall in Surrey, where just days earlier he held a fundraiser with Premier Christy Clark attended by 800 supporters.

Dhaliwal's resignation came hours after the B.C. Liberals announced a review of his candidacy and confirmed that he only notified the party of the tax charges after The Vancouver Sun obtained the court documents and called for comment.

Still Dhaliwal insisted he was not pushed, but had decided with his family that he should quit the campaign.

"The last two days has been very difficult — extremely difficult — for myself and my family," Dhaliwal said. "My reason for stepping aside is I want to make sure that I take care of the outstanding matters that are in front of the courts."

Dhaliwal said he didn't know about the six charges, sworn on Oct. 15, until the end of November after he had already been named the candidate for Surrey-Panorama on Oct. 31, 2012.

But he wouldn't answer questions about when he knew he was under investigation for missing corporate tax records or why he didn't go public sooner.

"I am coming clean. I told the party and I consulted with my lawyer. The case is in the court and my lawyer at that time gave me an assurance that this will be resolved in no time," Dhaliwal said. "Certainly it is taking time and that is why I am taking this decision today."

He said he didn't want his tax troubles to be a distraction from "those issues that are important to British Columbians" or to his fellow Liberal candidates.

Dhaliwal made a first appearance on the six charges in Surrey Provincial Court Nov. 26 and was arraigned Dec. 17. The case was back in court again this week and put over to Feb. 21.

The charges relate to Dhaliwal's position as president of Genco Consultants Inc., which was founded on Nov. 26, 1999 as a numbered company.

The two-page court document alleges Dhaliwal violated section 238 (1) of the Income Tax Act when "on or about Dec. 23, 2011, [he] did unlawfully direct, authorize, asset to, acquiesce in or participate in Genco Consultant's failure to file a completed Corporate Income Tax Return or T2."

There is a separate count with identical wording for each of the years 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Each count also says that Dhaliwal was "served personally" with a notice of requirement to file on Aug. 24, 2011.

Asked Friday about the notice given to him in 2011, Dhaliwal said only: "There is no investigation from CRA."

Also on Friday, he suggested that others were behind the missing tax filings, though he has not named anyone else involved in Genco. Only he and his wife Roni are listed as directors on corporate records.

"When I look at those charges that are in front of the court, they are not anywhere (me) shirking my physical responsibility, but they are because of the difficulty of obtaining information from other sources," Dhaliwal said, without providing further explanation.

"When I look at any elected public servant — or the person that is seeking an office . . . I see that those individuals have to be committed to the highest standards of behaviour," he said. "As a member of Parliament in the Canadian Parliament, I was committed to those principles and I lived those principles and today I am committed to those principles."

Dhaliwal ducked several tough questions from reporters.

Asked how he got into his tax problems in the first place, he said only: "We are all human beings and I tell you right now, I think people have to be brave. And I am brave enough, and my family is brave enough, to come out here today and be accountable to the people and to the media."

"And that's why I am standing in front of you not shirking away from my responsibility and telling you that I am stepping aside for one ... reason — that is to make sure that I am able to live those highest standards of behaviour to represent the public and come back to the public to seek any other office."

Asked if he would run again, Dhaliwal spoke of the years he has lived and worked in the community.

"People know I have worked very hard and this is the community where I raised my family and I am raising my family," he said. "And this is the community I love. And that is why I am taking this decision today to step aside to show them that I am one of those individuals that will never let my community down."

Dhaliwal was a Liberal MP for Surrey-Newton-North Delta from 2006 until 2011, when he was beaten by the NDP's Jinny Sims.

He was a key supporter of Clark's during the 2011 B.C. Liberal leadership race.

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